The Debates

First of all, I'd like to state that I did not watch the debates, but I did read every word of the transcript, so I can only comment on what they said and not the important things like Edwards's and Clinton's haircuts, or whether Obama's skin is the correct pigment.

Also, I'd like to state that my statements are all based on impressions left. I may attack someone for something that others said as well, but I am merely going by memory.

Biden - Biden continues to be exception to the mainstream. He's almost like a moderate version of Kucinich. They both somewhat seem to tell the truth. His nearing-on authentic candor about why he voted to continue funding is a little disingenuous, but he certainly has a grasp on issues. His understanding of Darfur and Iran were also impressive. The best part about him, is that he's known to be verbose. That means more nuance. That means more respect for me, the average American.

Clinton - Sickening, in a well done way. She answered no questions. Iran was her only strength. She refused to condemn Bill for "don't ask, don't tell". Peter Pace is an asshole, and should have been fired long before Don Imus. He's obviously not fit to lead our forces' attempts to effect liberal democracy. He's a bigot. Your husband was not perfect Mrs. Clinton! Her attempts to gain the moral high ground with her stand against hypothetical situations was silly. She still said she would assassinate Osama Bin Laden even it killed civilians. What the hell kinda world are we living in? The simplistic fantasy world of Israel? I think she would be perfect against someone like Giuliani though, who also doesn't seem to be able to think in complete, intelligent sentences.

Dodd - Boring. I no longer care. He has no chance and when Bill Maher gave him an opportunity to confirm what Republican Ron Paul said about "the terrorists'" reasons for attacking "us", he still lied through his teeth. He doesn't understand that the lower tier candidates must be exciting, and not just spout the same drivel as the front-runners, which is what he said all night. Oh no, we better not threaten to boycott the Olympics to save hundreds of thousands of women from being raped and men and women from being murdered in Sudan. That would go "too far". Get off the stage.

Edwards - Somehow, he is in many ways inching his way forward as my favorite of the three leaders. First of all, though, he does not get points for admitting he was wrong about the war. He knew it was poltically sound at the time so he did it. He didn't vote due to the intelligence. Everyone knew Bush was a liar then, but they were just scared. Give him no credit over Clinton. I say she wins on the war. He needs to give real health care, a la Kucinich. Kucinich is also more right on the war. HOWEVER. Edwards actually does seem to care about the poor. He brought it up briefly at the end, but of course, there was no time for that. AND Edwards is now my hero for the bumper sticker comment. There is no war on terror. It's an attempt by our president to take away our rights and wage endless war with no goals. He wants complete control, no micromanagement, and when the generals no longer agree with him, he fires them (excuse me, they "quit"). He is attempting to become a despot. Thank you John Edwards. (Hillary really missed an attempt to make this a widely-discussed topic and to debunk the whole fascist myth, but of course, she didn't.) And also, kudos to you for exposing Obama and Clinton for waiting to sneak their vote against funding in at the very end. However, Edwards will likely lose many people for appearing to be "negative". I wish people would realize that negative is wonderful when you speak of the actual issues, in order to clarify differences between candidates. Negative is bad when you lie, distort or moralize.

Gravel - Pathetic. He occasionally says some interesting things, but Kucinich already has the role of the straight-talker. Gravel just sounds like a nut. He's harming Kucinich.

Kucinich - Amazing, as usual. No assassinations. SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. Get out of NAFTA. DON'T FUND THE WAR! Too bad people are dumb.

Obama - He has been the real real real real loser of both of these debates. HE SAYS NOTHING! He will not win by copying Clinton, because she is more popular. He will not win with his fake health plan. If they want it they will buy it, he seems to think. Is that what you think on immigration? If they want to be legal, they'll pay 5,000 dollars? You know, just a small fraction of the millions that they've amassed working as a busboy or a dishwasher. You're speech was good. You can play basketball. You really are black. You didn't go to a madrassa. You were apparently a very impressive political figure in the state government of Illinois, but now you don't know what you're doing. YOU VOTED FOR THE WALL BETWEEN HERE AND MEXICO, YOU JERK! You were not in the federal government, so your opposition to war "from the beginning" is irrelevant! You don't get to use that. And to preempt Edwards, you weren't in the Senate to vote against the wall, so don't try to use that one later. I'm sorry to say it, but Obama sucks.

Richardson - I was somewhat rooting for him in an underdog sort of way. He's from my neck-of-the-woods. However, he just seemed to ramble all night and I'm really sick of people constantly saying that their federal plans come from their local plans. New Mexico has one of the lowest populations of any state. The federal government is a completely different animal. Again, as a second-tierer, he needs to speak more clearly. He doesn't have the luxury of evading the issues that Hillary has.

Someone needs to defend poor people (maybe Edwards) and gay people (not impressive Richardson), for god's sake!

All in all, I wish that Richardson, Gravel and Dodd would leave. They are not unique (maybe Richardson can stay, he is good on energy). In the order of overall chance, it would leave, from best chance to worst: Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Biden, Kucinich. Of course, my preference order would be Kucinich, Edwards, Biden, Obama, Clinton. However, as far as ability to beat the Republicans, I would put it in this order Clinton, Edwards, Obama, Biden, Kucinich. So who am I voting for right now?

For chances: Clinton
For reasonable chance but with some integrity: Edwards
For real desire: Kucinich

So, who am I voting for? Al Gore.